


Met Someone By Accident

by mammothluv



Category: Conviction (TV 2016), Madam Secretary
Genre: Crossover, F/F, Femslash, Misses Clause Challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 11:09:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17021562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mammothluv/pseuds/mammothluv
Summary: Hayes lets out a throaty laugh and Stevie can feel heat rising to the surface of her skin, imagines she must have a visible flush by now.





	Met Someone By Accident

**Author's Note:**

  * For [magnetgirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnetgirl/gifts).



Stevie’s still got the sound of the bomb ringing in her head when she meets Hayes. She’s been out of the hospital for a month. For the most part, people have stopped looking at her like she might fall apart at any moment but, if she stands still for too long, she swears she can feel the ground shaking beneath her feet. 

Nothing feels solid anymore. 

Hayes doesn’t like to slow down either, though she’s somehow more reserved than Stevie expected. Stevie’s always felt a certain kinship with Hayes, though for the most part she’s only seen her in the distance at the occasional event. But, when Stevie would see Hayes on television, she’d catch a familiar look in Hayes’s eyes. 

So in some ways, she’s not surprised when Hayes walks up to her at the fundraiser, one of Stevie’s first big outings since her hospital stay. She’s not surprised but she does feel something sparking in her that feels unfamiliar in the here and now. It’s closer to excitement than fear which is unusual for her these days. 

Hayes slides into the chair next to Stevie, one drink in each hand, sets down one in front of Stevie and one at what’s now Hayes’s place at Stevie’s table. 

Stevie turns to face her. She takes in Hayes’s navy blue dress, the way it contrasts her pale skin. Hayes smiles and rests a hand on Stevie’s shoulder, more gently than Stevie would have expected from her. 

“A drink from the former first daughter for a future first daughter,” Hayes says. 

“Possible future first daughter,” Stevie corrects, though even if she says it she feels the inevitability of her mother’s presidency barreling toward them. 

“Of course,” Hayes agrees. Her tone says she understands Stevie’s carefully measured response and all that’s unsaid behind it. 

“I really admire your work at the CIU,” Stevie says. “I’ve been following your cases and I think it’s wonderful that you…”

Hayes interrupts, “You don’t have to do the political suckup dance with me.” She follows the statement with a sip of her drink and Stevie is transfixed watching her lips close around the glass, her eyes travel down Hayes’s throat, following the path of the champagne.

“Oh, no I’m not,” Stevie assures her. “I’m more trying to change the subject but the sentiment is genuine.” 

Hayes lets out a throaty laugh and Stevie can feel heat rising to the surface of her skin. Imagines she must have a visible flush by now. Hayes is eyeing her steadily. Stevie wants to reach out and touch her calm. 

“But thanks for saying that. I particularly thought your work on the Porscha Williams case was excellent. If I’d gone to law school, I would have loved to work with someone like you someday.” 

“Why didn’t you?” Hayes asks.

“Go to law school?” 

“Come work for me?” 

Stevie looks down at her drink to hide her smile. “I have a job.” 

“I know. You work for Russell Jackson. That must be a laugh riot.” Hayes rolls her eyes and takes another sip of her drink.

“He’s a good man,” Stevie says. It’s easy to pull out of her these days, this defensiveness on Russell’s behalf. Everything seems closer to the surface for her these days. 

“That might be pushing it,” Hayes says. “But he’s definitely someone I’d rather have on my side than on the opposite.” 

There’s no venom in Hayes’s words, just an honesty Stevie finds refreshing. It quiets the ire Stevie previously felt rising. 

You’d definitely irritate him,” she observes.

“Oh trust me, I already do.” Hayes laughs and it’s warmer than the champaign Stevie is drinking. “I’d risk offending him again if it meant you’d come work for me. And, no, I’m not just asking because you’re the almost-President’s kid or any of that bullshit.” 

“Then why are you asking?” 

“I have my reasons. Maybe I’ve been paying attention to your career too. That protest you staged at Lovell, that took guts. I admire your spirit.” Hayes runs her finger around the rim of her wine glass and Stevie follows with her eyes. 

“I work at the White House,” Stevie says. Her voice, even to her, sounds a little uncertain. 

“Oh, I have a few ideas of what I could do for you that the White House can’t,” Hayes says, then she grabs Stevie’s drink from where it sits on the table and downs what Stevie hasn’t yet finished. She pulls a business card and a pen out of her clutch. She jots something down on the back of the card and hands it to Stevie. “I’d love to fill you in on some of them. I’m in town for the rest of the week. That’s my cell number.” She points to the handwritten numbers scrawled on the back of the card now in Stevie’s hand. “Call, me. We’ll have dinner.”

**** 

Dinner isn’t really dinner. Dinner is Hayes’s hotel room and Stevie talking awkwardly at the entryway until Hayes just starts taking off her clothes. Stevie stops talking altogether, eyes drawn instead to Hayes’s fingers dancing downward, undoing button after button. 

The first time Hayes’s lips meet Stevie’s it feels reckless but warm. Stevie stops thinking about breathing and one foot in front of the other and, for the first time since the bomb, she just does. Her brain slows, takes in only Hayes on top of her and then below her and skin and mouth and fingers and the slow gasp of release. 

When they’re lying in Hayes’s king-size hotel bed after, an expanse of covers and pillows on either side of them as they lay intertwined on the center, Hayes trails her finger up and down the scar that marks Stevie’s back lazily as they drift in and out of sleep. 

Stevie thinks maybe she should go but she doesn’t want to. And Hayes seems content so Stevie closes her eyes, tucks her head against Hayes’s chest and sleeps. 

****   
Her mom is hovering when Stevie gets home. Casually hovering. 

Stevie is feeling light. She’s fresh off the best sleep she’s had in a month so there’s no real irritation in her protest. “Mom,” she says, staring pointedly at her as she speaks. 

“What? I’m getting breakfast.”

“You never eat breakfast here on weekdays mom. You wait for Blake’s elevator muffin.” Her mom has one hand on the kitchen counter, an orange loosely gripped in the other. 

“Well, I decided I need more fruit.” 

It still amazing to Stevie that this woman in front of her who is so absolutely terrible at fooling her children has the political cunning to be one of the best Secretaries of State to serve America

“Next time I see Blake in the hall, I’ll tell him to bring fruit to the elevator,” Stevie threatens. 

Her mom eyes the orange skeptically. “But still the muffin?” 

“Mom, you were obviously waiting here to ask where I was last night.”

“No. I was getting my orange.” 

“Mom, it’s 7:30. You’re going to be late.” 

“Ha!” Her mom gestures, nearly losing her grip on the orange. “So you were purposely waiting until I was gone to come home to avoid my questions,” she says triumphantly. 

“But, you don’t have any questions so why would I be avoiding them?” 

Her mom frowns. Her dad walks into the kitchen. “It appears you two are at a standstill,” he observes. 

He walks past them both, plucking the orange from her mom’s hand. 

“Thanks, hun,” he says, punctuating the statement with a kiss on the cheek. 

Stevie has to suppress a smile as she hears her mom mutter under her breath in her dad’s direction, “You’re no help.” 

Her dad is all smiles as he kisses Stevie on the forehead and makes his way out. 

“I texted you so you wouldn’t worry,” Stevie says. They’ve been doing this back and forth since the bomb. Her mom trying not to worry, Stevie trying not to worry her. 

“And I appreciated it but I’m your mother…”

“And you’ll always worry,” Stevie finishes for her. 

“Are you okay?” Her mom reaches out as she asks, brushes a hair from Stevie’s cheek and tucks it behind her ear. 

“I’m fine mom,” Stevie says in her most reassuring voice. And she feels a little less like she’s lying today than she did yesterday. 

“Okay,” her mom says, still studying her carefully. Stevie stands just a little taller to counter the weight of her gaze. “Well do you want a ride to work. I can wait.” 

“No, go ahead.” 

“You’re going to have to talk to me eventually.” 

“I always do.” 

“Love you.” 

“Love you too, Mom.” 

*****

Stevie makes it to work with minutes to spare before Russell’s 8:30 meeting. She’s pulling the files she prepared the afternoon before when her phone buzzes. 

She looks at the text. “When can I see you naked again?”

She didn’t expect Hayes to text or more she hadn’t wanted to hope she would. She’d been fighting her own urge to do so the whole way into work this morning. 

“You’re smiling,” Russell observes as he walks through the door. Stevie almost drops her phone in an effort to make sure Russell in no way sees that text. 

“Good morning,” Stevie answers, handing him the files. Only a little resentful at being pulled away from considering her response to Hayes. 

“Now you’re blushing,” he adds. 

“You’re late for your meeting,” she replies, fixing with him with a hard stare of her own. He backs out the door shaking his head at her. 

As soon as he’s out the door she replies to Hayes. “You free tonight?”

“No. I have a date with you.” 

****

Hayes takes one look at Stevie when she walks in the door and steers her straight to the couch. 

“You look exhausted.” 

“I am. I’m sorry. Maybe I should have canceled. I can go.” 

“No. Honestly, I had kind of an exhausting day too. Room Service?” Hayes asks waving a menu in Stevie’s direction. 

“Ooh, yeah,” Stevie says, reaching for the menu. “You want to talk about your day?” she asks as she scans the menu.

“Not really,” Hayes replies. “You?” 

“Nope. But I do want this risotto.”

“Oooh,” Hayes says, grabbing the menu. Seconds later she’s on the phone ordering two plates of risotto and requesting suggestions for a wine pairing while Stevie kicks her shoes off and stretches out across the couch. When Hayes gets off the phone she walks over to the couch, lifting Stevie’s legs so that she can settle in underneath them with Stevie’s feet resting on her lap. 

Hayes rests her head on the back of the couch and Stevie is struck by how comfortably domestic this feels given that they just met two days ago. 

“We don’t have to talk about what this is do we?” Stevie asks. 

“Oh, god no. Let’s not,” Hayes replies, eyes still closed. And Stevie doesn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed but then Hayes adds, “It’s nice though.” 

“It is,” Stevie agrees. 

They sit like that until there’s a knock on the door announcing their dinner. 

With dinner on their laps and wine in hand, they talk about everything except their lousy days. 

Hayes tells Stevie about getting kicked out of boarding school. (She hints it was just the first time.) 

They move on to ex-boyfriends and girlfriends and unfortunate tales of love and lust gone wrong and compare Secret Service nicknames. 

Stevie is giggling at Hayes’s codename being Houdini when she accidentally snorts wine out of her nose. 

“Oh my god,” she says, hand flying to cover her face. “That was so attractive.” 

“Hot,” Hayes agrees, and they dissolve into giggles that end in them intertwined on the couch, Hayes’s lips hot against Stevie’s neck as she whispers, “Seriously, that was the cutest snort ever.” 

Stevie whispering, “Shut up,” as she works her hand under Hayes’s shirt and trails her fingers up Hayes’s back. 

“Oh, good,” Hayes says, tugging Stevie closer. “I was starting to think I might not see you naked tonight after all.” 

**** 

“This is becoming a habit of yours,” Stevie observes as she walks in the next morning to find her mom waiting at the door two cups of coffee in hand, one of which she hands to Stevie. 

“Oh, come on. Just tell me,” her mom says, following Stevie into the kitchen and toward the living room. “Who is he?” 

“Mommmm,” Stevie complains. “Can’t you just let me drink my coffee?” 

“Okay, fine. But it’s Saturday so you can’t escape me like you did yesterday morning,” her mom calls out as she heads upstairs. 

And Stevie starts to wonder if she can really tell her mom that she’s sleeping with Hayes Morrison. There would be… a lot to unpack. And Stevie likes the way Hayes feels comfortable, soft, and like this little part of the world that belongs to Stevie alone. Talking to her mom would change that. And Hayes will be gone by tomorrow anyway. Stevie tries not to think about how much that might hurt.

She doesn’t have to contemplate discussing any of it with her mom much longer, though. Her mom gets called into work and Stevie decides she’ll be the one to text Hayes first this time. 

“I know you fly out tonight but if you have some time to kill after your morning meetings and need some company, let me know,” she types. 

She doesn’t wait long for a response. “Meet me at 3?” Hayes texts with the address of an office building downtown. “If you bring me a cappuccino I’d be eternally grateful.” 

****  
Stevie arrives at 3, two cappuccinos in hand. 

“I’m here for Hayes Morrison,” she tells the man at the front desk, not much younger than her. 

“Of course, Ms. McCord,” he says. “Ms. Morrison is expecting you.” 

Hayes is waiting for Stevie when the elevator doors open onto the 9th floor. 

She grabs one of the cappuccinos and takes a sip. Her eyes close and a small smile forms on her lips and Stevie takes the moment to observe her, her hair loose around her shoulders, her suit obviously expensive but rumpled and untucked. She lets her mind wander to that hair falling down around her face last night, Hayes’s wine-rich lips meeting her own. 

She’s pulled out of memories of last night when Hayes grabs her hand and leads her down the hall. For a split second, worry passes through Stevie’s mind about who will see them and what they might think but she doesn’t let go of Hayes’s hand. 

Hayes leads her into a small but nicely decorated corner office and closes the door. 

“They gave me this office for the day and I figured meeting here was better than in public given the propensity we both have for ending up with our pictures in the paper,” Hayes is grinning like she wouldn’t necessarily mind ending up in the paper but she’s not opposed to a secret liaison either. 

“I appreciate it,” Stevie replies. “My mother’s been grilling me about where I’ve been the past couple of night and I don’t know if I’m ready to have that conversation…” she pauses, thinking about how Hayes might have taken her words. “I mean that you’re not… you’re wonderful. I’m not embarrassed or…”

“I get it, Stevie. Things are complicated when your parent is one of the most powerful people in the world.” 

“To put it mildly. My mom’s just been… extra concerned about me lately.” 

“You did almost blow up,” Hayes says. Stevie appreciates that she doesn’t dance around it. She laughs, less out of amusement than relief. 

“I did,” Stevie replies. “And then there’s the question of whether she’s going to run for president and…”

“And I’m a woman, and a former first daughter, and former drug addict, and significantly older than you?” Hayes offers. 

“Well, when you put it that way it does sound scandalous.” 

“Positively,” Hayes agrees. 

“How exciting,” Stevie says, pinning Hayes against the wall as she speaks. 

Hayes responds, fingers grasping at Stevie, her knee working it’s ways between Stevie’s thighs. “And here I thought I’d need the cappuccino to wake me up.”   
“Well, I want to give you a proper send-off.” 

“Such diplomacy,” Hayes says. Then she trails off with a gasp as Stevie’s teeth bite down on her neck. 

*****  
Stevie keeps herself busy after Hayes leaves, goes to work a little earlier than necessary and stays a little later. 

She’s at the office late one night a few days after she’s last seen Hayes when her phone buzzes.

“You should come intern for me,” the text says. 

“There are easier ways to work up to an intern/boss roleplay than creating a job for me, Hayes.” 

“Fly out here and prove it.” 

Stevie can hear the words in Hayes’s voice, can feel the warmth of them as if Hayes is muttering them against her skin. She wants nothing more than to leave the office right now and head straight to the airport. 

She heads home instead. 

****  
Stevie peeks into her parents' room. Her dad is nowhere in sight but her mom has a book propped on her knees and the bedside light still on so Stevie walks in. 

Her mom pats the space beside her in bed and Stevie climbs in like she hasn’t done in years. She takes a few steadying breaths and then lets go. 

“It’s a girl,” Stevie says. “I mean a woman. The person I am… was… am? Seeing was… is a woman.” 

“Oh, thank God. For a second I thought you were pregnant.” 

“Mom!” Stevie smacks her mom lightly on the shoulder and her mom laughs, tugging Stevie close to her and pulling her into a hug. 

“Were you worried about telling me that?” her mom asks. 

“I don’t know. Not really. I just know there’s a lot to think of given your position, the fact that you might run for…” 

“Stevie,” her mom interrupts, voice leaving no room for Stevie to continue. “Yes, we might have to have some conversations with my staff about how to handle things if you want to come out. And I know my job complicates some of this for you but I want to make it clear that I will never ask you to hide anything about yourself for the sake of my job.” 

“Thanks, Mom,” Stevie says, snuggling into her Mom’s side and breathing in the familiar scent of her perfume as she feels some of the tension leave her body. 

“I love all of you,” her mom says. Stevie feels the gentle vibration of the words from where her head is tucked against her mom’s chest. 

“I know,” Stevie says. And she means it. Other things may shake but this is steady. 

“Do you want to tell me who she is?” her mom asks. 

“One conversation at a time mom,” Stevie replies with a laugh. 

“Okay, I can live with that,” her mom replies, hand gently stroking Stevie’s hair. 

Stevie closes her eyes and leans into the warmth of the moment. 

****

Stevie gets back to her room after a few more minutes of comfortable silence with her mom. 

“You free this weekend?” she types as she falls backward onto her bed, a mixture of exhaustion and relief flooding her.

“I’m in the middle of a case,” Hayes replies almost instantly.

Stevie bites her lip, wills herself to breathe. They spent three days together. She got carried away and it’s understandable Hayes doesn’t feel the same way. 

“Want to help?” comes a minute later. 

Stevie laughs, kicks her feet against the mattress as she types. 

“Absolutely,” she replies. 

“We could probably make that roleplay scenario of yours happen…” 

“Um, I think that was your kink, Hayes.” 

“I’m willing to share. ;),” Hayes replies. 

“I have a feeling that, in some ways, you are going to be far superior to working with Russell,” Stevie types.   
“Good God. I hope so. See you soon.” 

“See you soon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for magnetgirl for Yuletide 2018. 
> 
> Thank you for the inspiration! I hope you enjoyed this! When you said that you'd enjoy Stevie crossover femslash and I saw that you'd watched Conviction, I could not resist. Happy Yuletide!


End file.
